South Point

The next place we stay is in the South Point area. Sea Mountain is adjacent to the black sand beach of Punaluu. More exciting than the black sand is that this is a favored spot for the area sea turtles, who enjoy sunning themselves on the super warm sand.

Apparently, South Point is pretty remote, but there are a few other things that we may want to check out in addition to the Volcanoes National Park:

Kula Kai Caverns

Pahala Plantation Store

Green Sand Beach - this would be awesome, but I fear the off roading and crazy hike.

Wood Valley Temple and Retreat Center

I think there are actually only two places to eat in the area, but they both sound good, still we will probably need to cook some when we stay here:
Shaka restaurant - famous for plate lunch
Punaluu Bake Shop - famous for baked goods

Loose Itinerary for First Few Days

DAY 1 - Arrive Kailua-Kona, walk around town, see some of the historic sights, get lunch at the brewery, get groceries, head to hotel to check-in for the night. Buy boogie boards?

Day 2 - Birding

Day 3 - Morning at Kahaluu Beach Park, lunch at Ba-Le, coffee plantation tour, birding at Kaloko-Honokohau.

Day 4 - Drive Highway 11 South to State Highway 160, stop to admire Kealakekua Bay, follow City of Refuge Road to Pu'Uhonua O Honaunau National Historical Park, snorkel at two step or continue on 160 to Highway 11, stop by the painted church and the free Wakefield Botanical Gardens if it looks nice, fortify at south kona fruit stand if the mood strikes us or at Royal Kona Coffee Visitor Center or any of the many other stands we see. Things will become more scarce the further towards our hotel we get. I'll post more about that area later.

Historic Kona

Kona and the area to the south are well known for Hawaiian historical sights. There are two main museums run by the Kona Historical Society, including a coffee museum. The main museum features a historic store and a Portuguese stone oven.

The most significant historic spot we won't want to miss is the Place of Refuge, which is now a national park. The park system describes its significance as a place where all Hawaiians could come to seek sanctuary. It also includes royal grounds, an historic village, and the site where criminals were punished. One cool thing the park features is an audio tour available by phone.





North of the Kailua-Kona town is Kaloko-Honokohau National Historic Park, which is the remains of an ancient fishing settlement. Many of the aquaculture ponds are still in tact, so I think this might be a good birding spot.


We also might want to stop by the Painted Church while we are in coffee country. It's named for the paintings adorning the inside walls, painted by the original father of the church, the church was built in 1899 and is very pretty on the outside as well. A Hawaiian blogger has written about this historic area in detail. He describes a cool petroglyph area near the Keauhou resorts, but it sounds like the tide makes them difficult to see. There's also Captain Cook's monument, but the hike sounds like an ordeal. You can see it from one of the snorkel tours I mentioned before.

Kona Coffee

Since Charlie and I are coffee's biggest fans, we will probably want to take in a coffee plantation tour. I believe Kona is the only place in the United States that coffee is grown, which is really the number one reason why I could never do the 100 mile diet despite wanting to be a green girl. Hmm. I'm not going to think too hard about that, but instead say that wikipedia identifies Kona Coffee as the most expensive and sought after in the world. Yum. It's grown on the volcanic slopes of Hualalai and Mauna Loa, which makes it more exciting by nature.

BTW the native Hawaiian language has several fewer letters than the alphabet we use. I am absolutely mystified as to how to pronounce most of the words. If I were going to say Hualalai aloud while driving, I would say look for the H word with several A's and good luck figuring out which H word I mean. Or maybe I would just spell it.

So coffee, obviously we will be drinking Kona every morning, but we might want to do a coffee plantation tour and there are several options:
Mountain Thunder is actually clear on their website about what time tours happen and what happens on a tour. I like that.
Kona Joe's might be a good place to stop on our drive south to our next overnight spot, but you have to call ahead to request the actual tour and then you have to pay.
Kona Blue Sky Coffee Visitor's Center is quite close to our Kona residence, so this would be an easy stop to make. It's not clear from the website what is at the visitor's center though.
Kona Lea Plantation is further south, Kona Lea Plantation sounds awesome - it's organic, plus they have a tour and a flock of geese.
Kona Coffee also has macadamia nuts going for it, it's pretty far south.
Though I question the name, Bong Brothers has a road side stand that sounds like it's worth stopping at for Hawaiian treats and Kona coffee.

Some of the further south places would be better visited while driving to our hotel in Punaluu, but some might be good to check out in between beaches on our water day.